Sgt_Detrius Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Toying with the idea of going PC based at my old school since the Zero 88 Alcora they're using has more or less given up the ghost now (only have 18 out of 24 channels working, amongst other problems!) and my lighting desk budget is around £100; but they're perfectly happy to provide a spare laptop for the shows. I liked the look of the Enttec interface, and I know it's compatible with freestyler if needs be (again, budget means freeware software only), but I've been playing with Daslight Virtual Controller and love the 3D interface-for a start it means I can teach my 'apprentice' tech monkeys how to design lx for shows in a far more interesting way than pen and paper then transfer their ideas striaght into reality once it's all rigged. Plus am trying to get them away from the 'push anything and see if it looks good' school of lighting... I know there's a fair few free programs with 3d interface out there, but does anyone know of one that's compatible with an interface that I can buy for about £60 or less? Cheers James :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eucalor Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 It's not 3D, but the MagicQ from ChamSys, http://www.chamsys.co.uk/ has gotten very positive reviews. It is a the PC based version of their lighting desk, with all the features except real faders, wheels etc. I've only played with it a bit, but my impression is that it's very powerful, yet userfriendly and relatively easy to get the hang of. It is compatible with the enttec usbdmx dongle, and it's free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfitzpat Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 It's not 3D, but the MagicQ from ChamSys, http://www.chamsys.co.uk/ has gotten very positive reviews. It is a the PC based version of their lighting desk, with all the features except real faders, wheels etc. I've only played with it a bit, but my impression is that it's very powerful, yet userfriendly and relatively easy to get the hang of. It is compatible with the enttec usbdmx dongle, and it's free!<{POST_SNAPBACK}> FWIW, I'm pretty sure you can make an ethernet connection from MagicQ PC to Capture if you really need a visualizer. -jjf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eucalor Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Isn't Capture about £600 over a £100 budget? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Detrius Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yup, just a bit :P Not a bad program at all though, just trying the demo version On a side note...checked with the drama teacher/director today and he's apparently now having a 'wooden impression' of a bus coming off the stage at an angle onto raised platforms for the duration of the next play (end of july), which means that my main wall bar on one side is now unusable...looks like I'll be hunting down some t-bars AGAIN! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yup, just a bit :P Not a bad program at all though, just trying the demo version On a side note...checked with the drama teacher/director today and he's apparently now having a 'wooden impression' of a bus coming off the stage at an angle onto raised platforms for the duration of the next play (end of july), which means that my main wall bar on one side is now unusable...looks like I'll be hunting down some t-bars AGAIN! :)<{POST_SNAPBACK}> You could always use the bar to have light coming out of the bus windows if they were frosted plastic etc.......it would give you a use for the window and give a potentially nice effect if done nicely. Edit by Bryson: I just had to fix the typos as they were making my brain itch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Detrius Posted May 25, 2005 Author Share Posted May 25, 2005 Good idea, thanks, would be especially good if there's a night scene...I wouldn't know, I haven't seen a script yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCoster Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 Sorry to sort of raise this topic from the dead a bit, but you say search before posting a new topic and so I did... I too was having a play around with Daslight VC earlier today but without a DMX connection. So I was just wondering whether this program is compatible with the Enttec Open USB DMX interface? If not, which interface is it compatible with? Slightly off-topic but not entirely, I was also wondering if there's a good free virtual desk around that is compatible with Enttec and also has good programmable memory. I know about FreeStyler but is there anything else that anyone can recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard CSL Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Try looking at Maplin.co.uk then type velleman DMX. there is a dongle for about 50 pounds. and this works fine with Freestyler software Toying with the idea of going PC based at my old school since the Zero 88 Alcora they're using has more or less given up the ghost now (only have 18 out of 24 channels working, amongst other problems!) and my lighting desk budget is around £100; but they're perfectly happy to provide a spare laptop for the shows. I liked the look of the Enttec interface, and I know it's compatible with freestyler if needs be (again, budget means freeware software only), but I've been playing with Daslight Virtual Controller and love the 3D interface-for a start it means I can teach my 'apprentice' tech monkeys how to design lx for shows in a far more interesting way than pen and paper then transfer their ideas striaght into reality once it's all rigged. Plus am trying to get them away from the 'push anything and see if it looks good' school of lighting... I know there's a fair few free programs with 3d interface out there, but does anyone know of one that's compatible with an interface that I can buy for about £60 or less? Cheers James <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianknight Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Has anyone thought of sending the desk to a Zero88 Service centre to have it checked? The 'various' other things may be a side effect to faders having failed - replacing them will be a lot cheaper than new software and DMX dongles, especially if the desk is working OK otherwise (if it's not - then hire a replacement). That sorts the problem for the imminent show - you and the school can then take a considered look at how to replace/upgrade the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Try looking at Maplin.co.uk then type velleman DMX. there is a dongle for about 50 pounds. and this works fine with Freestyler softwareHas anyone thought of sending the desk to a Zero88 Service centre to have it checked?You do realise that this thread was last active over TWO YEARS ago??? Presumably the problem has been sorted out by now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simduv Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Does anyone know if the chamsys software is compatible with the velleman usb DMX interface?? also an off topic subject but has anyone used the velleman DMX realy for the control of simple on/off smoke machines...if so did it give the desired effect...have heard reports that irs slightly unreliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Does anyone know if the chamsys software is compatible with the velleman usb DMX interface?? Yes, we support the Velleman DMX interface on the first universe. Regards, Matt LemonChamSys Ltd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I've recently built a Velleman interface, and I can confirm that it does indeed work with MagicQ. Theres a couple of things to be aware of though. First of all you need to copy three files from the \K8062 - VM116 DMX light controller\SDK tools\VB.NET\system32 directory on the driver CD into your \Windows\system32\ directory. You'll need to do this even if your PC recognizes the interface when you plug it into a USB port! When you run MagicQ and set up the first DMX universe to use the Velleman interface, the DMX light will constantly flash to show you that its transmitting a steady DMX data stream. The other problem I had when first using my interface is it needs a version 2.0 USB port, not version 1! The way around this is to unzip the HID driver update file in the \Utility\ directory on the driver cd into a handy directory (I put it in a folder in my 'My Documents' folder). Now, every time I use my laptop I boot it up, run the hidserv program I unzipped from the CD (nothing will appear to happen when you do this. This is normal.), and finally plug the Velleman interface into a USB port. I don't know if theres a more elegant solution to this, and if you've got a laptop with version 2 USB ports you won't have any problem. Edit : One more thing I forgot to mention. You'll need a newer version of MagicQ to use the Velleman interface. I forget which number I was using, but it wasn't until I'd started using the newest version that the Velleman interface became an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Edit : One more thing I forgot to mention. You'll need a newer version of MagicQ to use the Velleman interface. I forget which number I was using, but it wasn't until I'd started using the newest version that the Velleman interface became an option. The Velleman interface has been supported since beta version 1.3.2.0, so the current stable download on our website (v1.3.4.2) will have support for it. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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